Editing Kendo (section)

==History==
[[File:Japanese-Kendo-1873-by-Shinichi-Suzuki.png|thumb|left|Kendo in the early [[Meiji period]] (1873)]]
[[File:Takasugishinsaku kendo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Takasugi Shinsaku]], late [[Edo period]] kendo practitioner]]

[[Swordsmanship|Swordsmen]] in Japan established schools of ''[[kenjutsu]]''<ref name="Kenjutsu">{{cite web|title=Kenjutsu|url=https://whichmartialarts.com/kenjutsu/}}</ref> (the ancestor of kendo). These continued for centuries and form the basis of kendo practice today.<ref name="Yoshio09">{{cite book | editor-last = Yoshio | editor-first = Mifuji | translator = Dr Alexander Bennett | title = Budo: The Martial Ways of Japan | publisher = [[Nippon Budokan Foundation]] | date = 2009-10-31 | location = Tokyo | page = 335}}.</ref> Formal kendo exercises known as ''[[kata]]'' were developed several centuries ago as ''kenjutsu'' practice for warriors. They are still studied today, in a modified form.<ref>{{cite book | title = Nippon Kendo Kata Instruction Manual | publisher = [[All Japan Kendo Federation]] | date = 2002-03-29 | location = Tokyo | pages = 1 }}</ref>

The introduction of [[shinai|bamboo practice swords]] and [[bōgu|armor]] to sword training is attributed to {{nihongo|Naganuma Shirōzaemon Kunisato|長沼 四郎左衛門 国郷||1688–1767}} during the [[Shōtoku (era)|Shotoku]] Era (1711–1715). Naganuma developed the use of this armor and established a training method using bamboo swords.<ref name="History of Kendo">{{cite web|url=https://www.kendo.or.jp/en/knowledge/kendo-history/|title=The History of Kendo|publisher= [[All Japan Kendo Federation]] (AJKF)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319180632/https://www.kendo-fik.org/english-page/english-page2/brief-history-of-kendo.htm|archive-date=19 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{nihongo|Yamada Heizaemon Mitsunori (Ippūsai)|山田平左衛門光徳(一風斎)||1638–1718}}, third son of Naganuma and the eighth headmaster of the [[Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū]] Kenjutsu, is credited with improving the art with Japanese [[bokuto|wooden]] and [[shinai|bamboo]] swords, according to his gravestone's inscription. He is also credited with refining the armor by adding a metal grille to the headpiece (面; ''men'') and thick cotton protective coverings to the gauntlets that cover the wrists and hands (小手; ''kote'').<ref name=":0" /> {{nihongo|Naganuma Sirozaemon Kunisato|長沼四郎左衛門国郷|4=1688–1767}} inherited the tradition from his father, Heizaemon, in 1708, and the two of them collaborated to improve what would become modern kendo training armor.<ref name=" History of Kendo" /><ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Tamio|first=Nakamura|date=3 January 2007|title=The History of Bogu|url=http://www.jikishinkageryu.eu/eng/bogu.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218011242/http://www.jikishinkageryu.eu/eng/bogu.html|archive-date=18 February 2020|access-date=23 August 2020|website=Jikishin Kage-ryu Kenjutsu|publisher=Published with the permission of Kendo World.}}</ref>

[[Shūsaku Narimasa Chiba]] {{Nihongo|2=千葉 周作 成政|4=1792–1855}}, founder of the [[Hokushin Ittō-ryū]] Hyōhō (北辰一刀流兵法), introduced ''gekiken'' (撃剣) (full-contact duels with bamboo swords and training armor) to the curriculum of [[koryū|tradition arts]] in the 1820s. Due to the large number of students of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū Hyōhō at the end of the [[Edo period]], the use of bamboo swords and armor as a form of practice became popular. Modern kendo techniques, such as Suriage-Men and Oikomi-Men, were originally [[Hokushin Ittō-ryū]] techniques, were named by Chiba Shūsaku.<ref name=" History of Kendo"/><ref>{{cite book| last = Chiba| first = Eiichiro| title = Chiba Shusaku Ikoshu| year = 1942| location = Tokyo, Japan| isbn = 978-4-88458-220-3 | page = xiv }} (in Japanese)</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Hall| first = David| title = Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts| date = 2013-03-25| isbn = 978-1568364100| page = xiv | publisher = Kodansha USA}}(in English)</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Skoss| first = Diane| title = Keiko Shokon (Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan)| date = April 2002| isbn = 978-1890536060| page = xiv | publisher = [[Koryu Books]]}} (in English)</ref> After the [[Meiji Restoration]] in the late 1800s, [[Sakakibara Kenkichi]] popularized public ''gekiken'' for commercial gain, resulting in increased interest in kendo and kenjutsu.<ref name="GreenSvinth2010">{{cite book|author1=Green, Thomas A. |author2= Svinth, Joseph R. |title=Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation &#91;2 volumes&#93;: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-Nv_LUi6KgC&pg=PA600|date=11 June 2010|publisher= [[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-59884-244-9|pages=600}}</ref><ref name="SasamoriWarner1989">{{cite book|last1=Sasamori|first1=Junzo|last2=Warner|first2=Gordon|author2-link=Gordon Warner|title=This Is Kendo: The Art of Japanese Fencing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PgWBhKrg00C&pg=PA57|date=June 1989|publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-8048-1607-6|pages=57}}</ref>

In 1876, five years after a voluntary surrender of swords, the government banned the use of swords by the surviving [[samurai]] and initiated [[sword hunt]]s.<ref>Sansom, George (1961). ''[[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.178507/page/n7|A History of Japan: 1334–1615]].'' Stanford: [[Stanford University Press]]. {{oclc|1035605319}}</ref> Meanwhile, in an attempt to standardize the sword styles (''kenjutsu'') used by policemen, [[Kawaji Toshiyoshi]] recruited swordsmen from various schools to come up with a unified swordsmanship style.<ref name="allen"/> This led to the rise of the ''[[Battotai]]'' (抜刀隊, lit. ''Drawn Sword Corps''), consisting mainly of sword-wielding policemen. However, it proved difficult to integrate all sword arts, leading to a compromise of ten practice moves (''kata'') for police training. This integration effort led to the development of modern kendo.<ref name="allen">{{cite book |last1=Guttmann |first1=Allen |title=Japanese Sports: A History |publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbOau1trIMMC&q=kawaji+toshiyoshi |isbn=9780824824648 |pages=106–107 |access-date=29 October 2018|year=2001 }}</ref> In 1878, Kawaji wrote a book on swordsmanship, ''Gekiken Saikō-ron'' (''Revitalizing Swordsmanship''), stressing sword styles should not disappear with modernization, but should be integrated as necessary skills for the police. He draws a particular example from his experience with the [[Satsuma Rebellion]]. The Junsa Kyōshūjo (Patrolman's Training Institute), founded in 1879, provided a curriculum that allowed policemen to study ''gekiken'' during their off-hours. In the same year, Kawaji wrote another book on swordsmanship, ''Kendo Saikō-ron'' (''Revitalizing Kendo''), defending the significance of such sword art training for the police.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sanchez Garcia |first1=Raul |title=The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts |date=2018 |publisher= [[Routledge]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GwxpDwAAQBAJ |isbn=9781351333795 |access-date=27 November 2018}}</ref> While Junsa Kyōshūjo remained active only until 1881, the police continued to support such practice.

[[File:FENCING AT AN AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL.jpg|thumb|220px|Kendo at an agricultural school in Japan around 1920]]
[[File:Lee Teng-hui younger.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lee Teng-hui]], later [[President of Republic of China|President of Republic of China (Taiwan)]], wearing kendo protector as a junior high school student in [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese Taiwan]]]]

The [[Dai Nippon Butoku Kai]] (DNBK) was established in 1895 to promote martial arts in Japan. It changed the name of the sporting form of swordsmanship, ''gekiken'', ([[Kyūjitai]]: {{lang|ja|擊劍}} and [[Shinjitai]]: {{lang|ja|撃剣}}, "hitting sword") to ''kendō'' in 1920.<ref name=Yoshio09/><ref>{{cite book| last1 = Green| first1 = Thomas A.| last2 = Svinth| first2 = Joseph R.| title = Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P-Nv_LUi6KgC&pg=PA600| volume = 2| year = 2010| publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]]| isbn = 978-1-59884-244-9| pages = 600–1 }}</ref>

Kendo (along with other martial arts) was banned in Japan in 1946 by the occupying powers. This was part of "the removal and exclusion from public life of militaristic and ultra-nationalistic persons" in response to the wartime militarization of martial arts instruction in Japan. The DNBK was also disbanded. Kendo was allowed to return to the curriculum in 1950, first as {{nihongo|"shinai competition"|竹刀競技|shinai kyōgi}} and then as kendo in 1952.<ref>{{cite journal |first=J. R. |last=Svinth | url=http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth_1202.htm| title=Documentation Regarding the Budo Ban in Japan, 1945–1950 |journal= [[Journal of Combative Sport]] |date=December 2002 |issn=1492-1650}}</ref><ref>Matunobu, Yamazaki and Nojima (1989), {{lang|ja|剣道}} (''Kendo''), Seibido Sports Series (27), [[Seibido Publishers]], Tokyo (in Japanese)</ref>

The [[All Japan Kendo Federation]] (AJKF or ZNKR) was founded in 1952, immediately after Japan's independence was restored and the ban on martial arts in Japan was lifted.<ref>{{cite book | title = Budo. The Martial Ways of Japan | publisher = [[Nippon Budokan Foundation]] | date = 2009-10-01 | location = Tokyo, Japan | page = 141 | url = http://www.nipponbudokan.or.jp/ | access-date = 12 June 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070827195809/http://www.nipponbudokan.or.jp/ | archive-date = 27 August 2007 | url-status = dead }}</ref> It was formed on the principle of kendo not as a [[martial art]], but as educational sport and it has continued to be practiced as such.<ref>{{cite book| last = Ozawa| first = Hiroshi| title = Kendo: The Definitive Guide| date = 1997-07-31| publisher = [[Kodansha International]]| location = Tokyo, Japan| isbn = 978-4-7700-2119-9 | page = xiv }}</ref>

The [[International Kendo Federation]] (FIK) was founded in April 1970. It is an international federation of national and regional kendo federations, and the world governing body for kendo. The FIK is a [[non-governmental organization]], and it aims to promote and popularize kendo, [[iaido]] and [[jodo]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180106153250/http://www.kendo-fik.org/english-page/english-page2/What-is-IKF.htm International Kendo Federation].</ref>

The [[International Martial Arts Federation]] (IMAF), established in Kyoto 1952, was the first international organization founded since [[World 
War II]] to promote the development of martial arts worldwide. Today, IMAF includes kendo as one of the Japanese disciplines.<ref name="imaf.com">{{cite web| url=http://www.imaf.com/faq.html| title= FAQ | date= 17 June 2024 |publisher= [[International Martial Arts Federation]] (IMAF)}}</ref>